 |
C O M M U N I T Y * C O M M I T M E N T * C O U R A G E * C O M P A S S I O N
|
May, 2017
Dear WILPF US Members:
By the time you read my letter to you, the decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords or not will have been made. The pending announcement will be made in the Rose Garden; an irony that disheartens, once again, anyone who believes in truth and peace. Once again, the U.S. is being led down the garden path by ignorance and greed. But we can seize this moment to connect with each other, 'to use our moral energy to build a new force in this world' and to overcome the attempted destruction of our Mother Earth.
In the midst of turmoil, I chose to start with the examples of positive accomplishments and a heart-warming accolade for WILPF. Congratulations go to:
Barbara Nielsen, Barbara Taft, Ellen Rosser, Libby Frank, Odile Hugonot Haber, Tura Campanella Cook, and others, for their dedicated work on the WILPF US Hamas Booklet and the recent ad in Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.
Candace Perry, WILPF US Secretary, for her play
"Made in Heaven"
being selected and performed in Dublin, Ireland at the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival. [
See photo below
of two Irish actresses from her play and Candace too. [
I-r: Dolores Hughes, Candace, Lia Monahan.] The play was performed May 8 - 14 along with a collection of short plays by US women playwrights. They called the collection "Love Trumps Everything." The collections dealt with issues of racism, marriage equality, women's roles, and LGBT youth.
|
|
|
|
Dolores Hughes, Candace Perry, Lia Monahan at the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival.
|
|
WILPF US is the recipient of the World Wide Peace Award from Menlo Park's Trinity Elementary School with accompanying $100 earned by the students. Here's a letter from Kim Thacker, coordinator at Trinity School, Menlo Park, CA:
The members of WILPF Palo Alto are participating in the event at Trinity on June 5th. They will be telling the children about Jane Addams and presenting three of the JAPA Book Award books to the library. Video will be forthcoming.
Dear Women's International League for Peace and Freedom,
Congratulations WILPF, Trinity School has chosen the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom to win our World Wide Peace Award! We have chosen WILPF to win this award because we think you are doing an amazing job for women's rights. For example, we appreciate the "PeaceWomen Program" where equal rights for both men and women are insured. We also this that WILPF should win the award for your amazing work on the environment. Your Environment working group has done a lot about air and water pollution.
The Heart of Trinity awards are given to the best organizations we find working on Human Rights, Environment, Peace, basic needs, medical needs, and many other issues. Trinity school gives these awards out for people to recognize these organizations' amazing work.
Trinity school students earned hundreds of dollars to help our environment, community around us, and around the world, and because of how you help many people we have decided to donate money to you!
We earn our money during the first few months of school by doing chores and other kinds of things to help. As soon as time is up, we bring all the money to school and each class has a bucket. Also, you put silver coins and dollars in other bins and pennies in ours to make it competitive. We are happy to give some of the money to WILPF. You are supporting individual rights. We value peace and human rights and we think that you do very important things with these issues.
One thing that WILPF works on is Women's rights. You gather women from around the world to hold events and raise awareness about issues that some people don't even know exist. By bringing amazing women together, WILPF will teach people that all people should be treated equally. We like that the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom works on many issues. Another issue WILPF works on is environmental concerns. We like the way that you focus on war and how it affects the environment because this is a very important issue that not a lot of people are thinking about.
Thank you WILPF for helping our community and many issues around the world. We really think that you are a group of great people helping us all. A big and massive thanks from Roan, Gaia, Derek, Fifth Grade, Trinity School, Menlo Park, California.
|
We will need more skills, more unified protests, more community efforts...local to global, to create the radical democracy we insist upon it. Remember our mission statement:
WILPF members create the peaceful transformation they wish to see in the world by making connections that:
- Provide continuity with the past so that knowledge of historical events and patterns informs current activities for change
- Create analysis and action that reflect and reinforce each other
- Link and challenge root causes of oppression, especially racism, sexism, heterosexism, militarism, economic disparity, and political disempowerment
- Build and strengthen relationships and movements for justice, peace, and radical democracy
COME JOIN US today! JULY 1 is the deadline for you to REGISTER for Congress Chicago 2017!
- Thanks to all of you 113 members who replied to the survey on WORKSHOP TOPICS and ISSUES to make the PROGRAM a more democratic process.
- There are a few more speakers who will be coming, so PLEASE KEEP UP TO DATE on our website: http://wilpfus.org/33rdCongress/
- SIGN UP: The Leadership Institute will give you another avenue to build skills and offers an opportunity to share the challenges and rewards of speaking out and standing up. http://wilpfus.org/33rdCongress/leadership-institute
ON THE MOVE: Follow up on office move, May 2017 (only a couple of members have volunteered for the AD HOC Committee)
Jan Corderman and Eileen Kurkoski packed boxes for storage and eventual shipping and some materials and memorabilia will be available at the Congress too. Files are being sent to Swarthmore, who is wanting "everything" for their archives.
- All email is still going to [email protected] and Is being reviewed daily.
- All mail is forwarded to our temporary PO Box 13075, Des Moines IA 50310.
- All calls are transferred from the WILP number (617-266-0999) to Jan Corderman. She is getting 3-5 calls a week.
- Please feel free to call her directly at 515-205-4504 or me 515-771-6131 with any questions or concerns (texting is usually faster) or email Jan at [email protected] or me [email protected].
- Longer term consideration AD HOC COMMITTEE (once again, we are looking or suggestions) ... here's the repeated message:
In the past, there was an ad hoc committee formed to look over suggestions and then voted on. In response this time, I'm asking branch member volunteers, who represent a cross-section of the US, to take part in decision-making process.
Geographical representation is imperative in making this decision. This is NOT a proforma endeavor, rather this is an opportunity for branches to support WILPF US right from the start. Discussions on requirements for building site will be made within the group; also, a discussion about the possibility of a remote office will take place.
Please contact us at
[email protected]
if you are interested in volunteering. And remember, we want ALL "regions" to pitch in and seize this opportunity to be involved in the process!
Yours in Solidarity and Service
Mary Hanson Harrison
President
WILPF US Section
|
|
|
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom/US Section
11 Arlington Street | Boston, MA 02116 | 617-266-0999 |
www.wilpfus.org
|
|
|
|
|
|
